Yahoo pushes mobile search to next level

Yahoo announced today it was working to make mobile searching more painless by tinkering with its search software, making it faster, more intelligent and voice-enabled.

More than a year after launching Yahoo oneSearch, Yahoo’s mobile guru Marco Boerries announced an update at the CTIA wireless conference in Las Vegas. The new improved oneSearch 2.0 will feature a new voice search that will allow people to call up a wide variety of information.

Instead of limited search terms, users will be able to say anything and they’ll be able to find flight listings, movie showtimes or restaurants. You could say “N-C-Double-A” and get the latest basketball scores from the tourney. The system adapts to your voice and can be used in conjunction with a text search. Voice search is available immediately on newer BlackBerry phones with a download from m.yahoo.com/voice. The service will be available on other devices in the coming months.

Yahoo is also making text searches better by implementing a more open model that integrates relevant information into the results. The model allows Yahoo to deliver more important content by organizing the information more efficiently. Open search will be available this quarter on initial carrier partners.

Other improvements include predictive text, which means oneSearch will start providing possible search results even as you begin typing. It’s also smart enough to pick out the context of your search and offer related results. This service will only be available on iPhones for now but will expand to other AJAX-enabled devices.

Yahoo will also make search available directly from a cell phone idle screen so you don’t have to open up a browser. That will be available this quarter.